TORONTO - The Ontario government will meet with Craigslist to talk about prostitution ads the province wants removed from the online service, but the opposition wants to know why the province isn't taking a harder line with the American-based company.
Three Ontario cabinet ministers signed a Sept. 14 letter to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster asking him to shut down links to prostitution-related ads in the province, and Manitoba last week announced it was following Ontario's lead.
The requests from the provinces follow similar requests from attorneys general in several U.S. states who eventually persuaded Craigslist to remove the prostitution ads from its American sites.
However, instead of removing the ads in Ontario, Craigslist asked to meet with provincial officials to discuss the situation, said Ontario Children's Services Minister Laurel Broten.
"They've asked to sit down and meet with us and we've indicated that we'd be willing to do that and we're very, very interested in fact in doing that," Broten said in an interview.
"I for one look very forward to sitting down with them very quickly and having an opportunity to talk about why this is an important part of the steps that Ontario is taking to protect women."
The Liberal government is developing a "sexual violence action plan" to help protect women, and the discussions with Craigslist will help in that project, added Broten.
"For me these are very important conversations to have and we need to have them to be able to protect vulnerable women and younger women in particular," she said.
However, the Tories and New Democrats said if American states could persuade Craigslist to drop the prostitution ads, then Ontario should be able to do the same, and do it quickly.
"If this has worked to clean up the list in other jurisdictions, then it should also work in Ontario," said Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.
"I don't know what the delay is, but ... let's get on with it and do the same thing here that's happening in other jurisdictions and clean it up."
The New Democrats said prostitution and human trafficking were serious problems and Craigslist should quickly remove its prostitution-related ads under its erotic services section.
"If this is something that's been done successfully in the states with moral suasion or political pressure, then certainly this government can step up to the plate and make a big difference," said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
"If this government had some concerns around what's happening on Craigslist, then they would step up and deal with it."
More than a month after Ontario made the request, there are still hundreds of ads posted on Craigslist every day for prostitutes right across Canada.
In its letter to Craigslist, Ontario said it was "a simple matter of fairness" for the company to remove the prostitution ads in the province the same way it has in the United States.
"While we applaud Craigslist for the conscientious response to the requests for assistance from our American colleagues, it has come to our attention that at present, none of these initiatives have been taken with Craigslist sites serving Canadian cities," reads the letter signed by Broten and two of her cabinet colleagues.
The Ontario government has declined to make public the letter it received from Craigslist in response to the request to shut down the links to prostitution-related ads. Craigslist has not responded to requests for comment on this story.
